About this resource
Parents know their children best. This plan starts with the parent's strengths and what is going well, then explores the child's needs, the parent's goals, supports that would help and who can provide them, including family, community and services.
Purpose
To plan practical, family-led support that builds on parents' strengths.
Who it is for
Primary profession: Social workers. Also relevant for community services and case workers, educators and school support staff.
Client or participant group: Parents and caregivers seeking support.
Practice setting: Family support, early years, health and community services.
Suggested uses
- Family support planning
- Early years services
- Reviewing progress with families
- Coordinating supports
Instructions for practitioners
- Start with strengths.
- Let the parent choose the goals.
- Include informal and community supports.
- If there are child safety concerns, follow your organisation's child protection procedures; this is not a safety plan.
Instructions for clients or participants
- Write what is going well.
- Choose your goals.
- Write who can help.
Accessibility considerations
Interpreters, plain language and flexible completion.
Scope and limitations
A strengths-based support plan. It is not a child safety plan or a child protection assessment.
Research basis
Parent support that builds positive interactions, consistent responses and emotional communication improves child behaviour and family wellbeing. The strengths model, a recovery-oriented approach, builds on people's own abilities, interests and resources.
- Kaminski, J. W., Valle, L. A., Filene, J. H., & Boyle, C. L. (2008). A meta-analytic review of components associated with parent training program effectiveness. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 36(4), 567–589. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-007-9201-9
- Rapp, C. A., & Goscha, R. J. (2012). The strengths model: A recovery-oriented approach to mental health services (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press.
What is included
A 2-page printable A4 PDF, including a practitioner notes page with the research basis (version 1.0).
Originality
Original Practitioner Plus content: wording, activity structure, layout and icons were created for this resource. No third-party worksheets, illustrations or text were reproduced.
